51 Families Sue Palatine District 211 Over Transgender Student's Locker Room Use (UPDATED)

UPDATED (4:56 a.m. Thursday, May 5): Includes statement from District 211 superintendent.

A conservative Christian group representing Palatine-area families is suing Township High School District 211 and two federal agencies over allowing a transgender student to "secretly" use "opposite sex" school bathrooms and locker rooms last year, claiming the defendants disregarded the privacy and safety of other students.

RELATED: Read the Full Lawsuit Filed Wednesday

The lawsuit, which also includes the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Education, was filed Wednesday by the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom in U.S. District Court. The nonprofit group, along with lawyers from the Thomas More Society, represents 51 families―73 parents and 63 students―in the school district.

The legal action contends the DOE inaccurately interprets and illegally redefines federal law in Title IX, the 1972 legislation that covers sexual discrimination at publicly funded schools and universities.

“No government agency can unilaterally redefine the meaning of a federal law to serve its own political ends,” ADF attorney Matt Sharp stated in a press release from the group. “The Department of Education is exceeding what it is legally and constitutionally allowed to do. In fact, at least five other federal and state courts have rejected the DOE’s interpretation of Title IX.”

More Coverage on Patch

• District 211 Sticks to Agreement in Transgender Case
• District 211 Reaches Settlement With Feds in Transgender Case
• District 211: Transgender Student Not Allowed Open Acess to Locker Room
• Local Residents Sound Off on District 211 Decision
• UPDATE: District 211 Transgender Case Making National News
• Mother of Transgender Student Who Was Denied Access to Locker Room Speaks Out
• Fremd Student Starts Petition in Favor of Allowing Transgender Students Access to Locker Room

At issue is the Education Department's definition of sex that includes gender identity and is not limited to biological sex. The lawsuit argues "Title IX does not protect against discrimination because of 'gender identity' (but only against discrimination because of biological sex)."

The lawsuit looks to stop District 211 from allowing open access to school bathrooms and locker rooms to students of the biological opposite sex. It's also asking a judge to declare the school district's policy illegal and unconstitutional and to stop the DOE from using gender identity in its definition of sex.

The suit stems from a recent case of a transgender Fremd High School student who was initially denied open access to her school's girl's locker room last fall. An eventual agreement in December 2015 between the school district and the Officer of Civil Rights, however, stipulated that the student would be given a private area in the locker room but not be allowed open access.

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D211 Superintendent Dan Cates released the following statement in response to the lawsuit:

District 211 affirms and supports the identity of all our students. Last December, after lengthy deliberations, District 211 reached a highly publicized agreement with the Office for Civil Rights that provided workable solutions protecting the privacy and honoring the dignity of all students. The District has faithfully honored our agreement with the Office for Civil Rights and our students have shown acceptance, support and respect of each other. We have implemented the agreement without any reports of incident or issue. Individual changing stalls in our locker rooms are readily available to every student and further accommodations that provide even greater privacy remain available upon request.

The Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the district student in the original case, characterized the lawsuit as a publicity stunt and called it "a sad development by groups opposed to fair and humane treatment of all students."

"It is only a small percentage of adults who insist on perpetuating these non-controversies by perpetuating ugly distortions about a vulnerable group of young people," Ed Yohnka, ACLU Illinois' communications and public policy director, wrote in a press release.